Proverbs 2
1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
Wow. Let’s slow down. What are we supposed to do according to this?
Accept my Words.
Store up my Commands.
Listen to Wisdom.
Apply your heart to Understanding.
Call out for Insight.
Cry aloud for Understanding.
Look for it and Search for it as you would something precious.
Then, you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) and Wisdom (Proverbs 9:10 and Psalm 111:10) In fact, let’s just put two of those here because they further expand on these words from Proverbs 2.
Psalm 111:10 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”
Proverbs 9:10 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
From all I’ve learned over the years, I think the words talked about above in verse 1 mean Wisdom’s words. But we could just as easily believe it means the Word of God, The Word. Jesus. Accept Jesus. And Store up His Commands, to Live Out His Command to Love because that’s very nearly his only command.
And if we Listen to Wisdom, this is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:30 “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
In fact Paul spends several verses in 1 Corinthians 1 talking about the differences between God’s Wisdom and man’s. God’s power and man’s. I encourage you to go read verses 18-31.
Alright, let’s go back to Proverbs 2.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Yes, He does. It’s all in Jesus and He’s yours for the asking. In James you can find that we can ask for all of this, it’s all for the asking. All of it is gifts from God. This is why I know the whole Bible is consistent. I mean, look, we started in Proverbs, found confirmation in Romans and now I’m telling you about James. Consistency.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
I hear echos of a Psalm here….
This is the first bit of 112
1 Praise the Lord.
Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
who find great delight in his commands.
2 Their children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever.
And oh does this ever evoke Peter too. 1 Peter 1:4b-5
“This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
And 1 Corinthians 1 again. Maybe you should go read that whole chapter after all. This time specifically verses 4-9.
Proverbs 2
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
He guards the course of the just.
m-w.com says that “just” is having a basis in or conforming to fact or reason
The Fact we’re conforming to is what our Faith is based on here. God is real and every word is true. And completely consistent. Because the Just in verse 8 are those being protected because they are faithful. And to be faithful you have to have Faith. So let’s reword verse 8 and just because I’ve noticed this a lot, verse 8 in a whole lot of chapters is a particularly great verse, meaning an easier to memorize kind of verse. Go looking. See if you notice that too.
He guards my course and protects my way because I believe.
Our Lord is a Warrior. He will guard you and protect you so long as your course is just and your way is faithful. Stay faith-filled. Once He has you He will never let go, so leave that life of denial and self-centeredness and live in faith and by the Spirit. You belong to Him.
And this faith, this learning more about Jesus and His plan for our lives will lead us right into verse nine.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
Every good path. Ahh such good news.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
Those three verses: The promises they contain. The rewards for faith. Can you even imagine this?
Wisdom will enter your heart and
knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
What else can I say? It’s all there.
Hold onto your faith. Grow your faith.